Origins & Early Life

Orville H. Gibson (May 8, 1856 – August 19, 1918) was an American luthier who founded the Gibson Guitar Company in Kalamazoo, Michigan, in 1902, makers of guitars, mandolins and other instruments. His earliest known instrument was a 10-string mandolin-guitar, which bears the date 1894. Gibson's mandolins were "unlike any previous flatback instrument," according to music historian Paul Sparks.

Pivotal Works & Achievements

His company's manufacturing standards were very high, and his instruments heavily marketed. Orville H. Gibson was born in 1856 and on a farm near Chateaugay, Franklin County, New York. He was the youngest of five children to an English father John W. Gibson and American mother Amy Nichols Gibson who later migrated to Peru, New York.

Enduring Legacy & Impact

Gibson began in 1894 in his home workshop in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and patented his idea for mandolins in 1898. With no formal training, Gibson created an entirely new style of mandolin and guitar that followed violin design, with its curved top and bottom carved into shape, rather than pressed or bent, arched like the top of a violin. He applied for and was granted a patent on the design. The sides too were carved out of a single...

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